Program Committee Chairs:Douglas Leslie, Ph.D., Medical University of South CarolinaAgnes Rupp, Ph.D., National Institute of Mental Health

In September 2008, the NIMH Division of Services and Intervention Research sponsored the 14th NIMH Biennial Research Conference on the Economics of Mental Health. This year the program committee invited investigators to present original policy-relevant research that can contribute toward building a high performance mental health system.

Twelve research papers were selected for presentation. Among others, the following topics were addressed: economics of pharmaceuticals; cost and cost-effectiveness of mental health interventions; financing of child and adolescent mental health services; and efficiency of treatment personalization. Discussions of the findings of the presented papers direct toward the need of developing new methodological approaches especially in the area of measuring the efficiency of treatment customization and the economic evaluation of clinical trials.

Over eighty researchers, including health economists and psychiatrists from academia, government, and the private sector attended the meeting. A reception hosted by his former students honored Professor Thomas G. McGuire, Ph.D., from Harvard Medical School, for his 30-year scientific research contribution to the economics of mental health and the impact of his research on mental health care financing policy formulation.